My (lack of) Tech Savvy

I love that we live in such a technologically advanced world. I have friends across the globe that I likely would never have met were it not for technology. In fact, I doubt that my book, Family Fortune, would be coming out next week on the 15th were it not for technology.

I look at the books and works of some of the literary giants from history and marvel at the amount they were able to produce and that it has endured and survived the ages. From Homer on down, it wasn't until here in the last 50 or 60 years that mechanical items (yes, even going back to old typewriters which I used to own a couple of. Believe me replacing toner has nothing on replacing a type writer ribbon!) became so inexpensive that the average person can afford one in their home. I can't imagine writing under the conditions they did, poor lighting, quill pens or charcoal sticks then pencils, on paper or animal skins, blistering hot in summer, cold as ice in winter, limited outlets for their works, and if you were a woman, well either hang it up or assume a man's name. And heaven help you if you made a mistake, since White-Out wasn't invented until last century.

But that brings me to today, as I sit in my climate controlled house, with warm socks I didn't have to make on my feet, with good lighting, my supposedly super fast computer, listening to music as I type and if I make a mistake, it's easily corrected. The way things have changed is amazing. Even in my dad's or grandfather's lifetime.

There are some parts of technology I really don't like though. My mother's printer is one of them. Supposedly, I have the drivers (I have no real idea what those are, I just know you have to have them to use the printer) on my computer. But my computer is the only one that will not read the printer as active, I always see it as 'offline.' I tried to print some business cards today and was going to print some postcards for an upcoming event dealing with my release. Yea, ok. The printer said otherwise. I ended up putting everything on a thumb drive (aren't those great?!) and using mom's computer to do it. Very frustrating. I still don't know why my computer won't talk to the printer. I even plugged the cord to the printer into my computer. No joy. I hate technology at times. At least certain aspects of it. My lack of tech savvy really shows at those times. In fact, it wasn't until last week that I even really used the tablet I was given last Christmas, because I didn't know how to use it to write. Makes it nice for when I go to town to the doctor's office. I can still escape to 1856.